Love the new consoles, shame about the games

Games journalists would have you believe that every year in this industry is one of relentless excitement - it's how we justify those easy-to-write preview features that dominate games mags every January. But 2006 - with a three-way battle between Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Nintendo's Revolution - will justify the hype. This is year one of the next generation - a generation of multicore consoles that take a great swing away from past technology.
However, those hoping for a new game type to take us into the high-definition era may be disappointed. The most anticipated titles of this year are franchise old-timers - Final Fantasy XII on PS2; Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess on GameCube; Metal Gear Solid 4 and Vision Gran Turismo on PS3; and Tomb Raider Legend on practically everything. Publishers are still relying on games that have been around for more than a decade. Yawn.

Perhaps the best we can hope for is a few genre mashups. Dirge of Cerberus from Square Enix, for example, is a shoot-'em-up based around role-playing game (RPG) classic Final Fantasy VII, while the long-awaited Starcraft Ghost will be a stealth action take on the successful battle strategy series. I fully expect some bright spark to combine last year's key genres - the second world war shooter and the gangland adventure. In this spiv-'em-up, you travel around Europe selling silk underwear and contraband dairy products while occasionally bashing Fritz. Come to think of it, I'll pitch it to Electronic Arts this afternoon.

A few original titles lurk in the shadows. If you own a PS2, the domestic robot sim Chibi Robo, the surreal collecting game We Love Katamari and the extraordinary Japanese adventures Shadow of Colossus and Okami should all be on your must-have list. The Nintendo DS has more offbeat treats, with courtroom drama Phoenix Wright and hospital adventure Trauma Centre coming soon.

Those despairing to ever see a game hero named Alan should hold out for Xbox 360 psychological horror title Alan Wake, about an author who finds himself in his own nightmarish fictional world. The 360 does well for original titles - look out for Bioware's much-vaunted sci-fi RPG Mass Effect, and Too Human, a proposed space adventure trilogy from Silicon Knights, the Canadian chaps behind Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes and excellent GameCube adventure Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem.

Of course, there will also be Rockstar - this time with Bully, a Grand Theft Auto-goes-to-school shocker. As for leftfield sleeper hits, I'd put a few quid on Psychonauts, a surreal cartoon adventure by Tim Schafer, the co-creator of such LucasArts classics as Day of the Tentacle and Grim Fandango. It's another one about school kids - this time set in a psychic summer camp. Perhaps education will be the hip genre of 06. Now that really would be shocking.

blogs.guardian.co.uk/games